On the recordOctober 5, 2011
I appreciate the words of Senator Cardin. He sits on the Finance Committee and was a long-time member of the House Ways and Means Committee and understands these issues as well or better than almost any Member of the Senate. I appreciate his work on that, and his leadership. He said a couple of things I want to emphasize. He said, first of all, this is the biggest bipartisan jobs bill we have considered this year, 79 votes out of 98 when it advanced to being considered on the Senate floor. He has talked about this is a discount we give to our competitors. Imagine two gas stations in Schenectady, NY, or in Frederick, MD, or in Akron, OH. One gets its gasoline and pays 25 or 30 percent less for its gasoline than does the station across the street. The station that does not get the 25- or 30-or 35- percent subsidy goes out of business almost in a matter of days. That is the kind of unfair competition we face because we have given this discount to our competitors. The second is Senator Cardin mentioned what this does with our budget deficit. It is pretty clear this is not a jobs bill that costs a lot of money. That is why we got 79 votes. That is why so many Republicans joined all but three Democrats in moving this bill forward. We save money.…





